LTREB RENEWAL: Fitness consequences of pleiotropic androgen effects in free-living mammals

目前对自然种群中产前激素暴露对后代健康的长期影响的了解非常有限，特别是在胎生物种中。这项拟议的研究调查了一种长寿的食肉哺乳动物——斑点鬣狗的产前雄性激素暴露对健康的影响。在肯尼亚对野生鬣狗进行了研究，以记录早期雄激素暴露中自然发生的变化的相关性和后果。研究人员对怀孕期间雄激素浓度已知的母亲所生的幼崽进行了随访，直至成年，以验证雄激素诱导的幼崽行为和形态变化与健康变化有关的假设。另外两种相互竞争的假设也被评估，每种假设都表明，相反的激素效应可能在不同程度上限制适应性进化。这项工作将允许对长寿哺乳动物激素诱导特征的发展进行独特的综合研究，从它们在子宫内的诱导到它们在自然种群中的影响。这对于更广泛地理解产前雄激素暴露在行为和形态变异的产生中的作用，以及雄激素在哺乳动物生活史进化中的作用将是重要的。这项研究跨越了学科界限，为美国学生提供了独特而极具价值的国际培训机会。这项工作还培训肯尼亚学生，并在研究地点附近的当地小学为马赛族学生提供支持。此外，项目人员与美国和国外的公共媒体密切合作，维护一个教育网站，并每年为外行观众举办多次讲座。最后，通过一个门户网站，这项研究可以向其他研究人员和一般公众提供数据库中的核心数据表，这些数据表记录了1988年以来研究地点的鬣狗行为、人口统计学和生理学。本项目由动物行为计划和国际科学与工程联合资助。

Current understanding of the long-term effects of prenatal hormone exposure on offspring fitness in natural populations is extremely limited, particularly in viviparous species. The proposed research investigates the fitness consequences of prenatal androgen exposure in a long-lived mammalian carnivore, the spotted hyena. Wild hyenas are studied in Kenya to document correlates and consequences of naturally-occurring variation in early androgen exposure. Cubs born to mothers with known concentrations of androgens during pregnancy are followed into adulthood to test a hypothesis suggesting that androgen-induced variation in cub behavior and morphology is associated with variation in fitness. Two other competing hypotheses are also evaluated, each suggesting different extents to which opposing hormone effects might constrain adaptive evolution. This work will permit uniquely integrated study in long-lived mammals of the development of hormonally-induced traits, from their induction in the womb to their consequences in natural populations. It will be important for understanding more broadly the role of prenatal androgen exposure in the generation of variation in behavior and morphology, and the role played by androgens in the evolution of mammalian life histories. This research crosses disciplinary boundaries and offers unique and highly valuable international training opportunities for American students. The work also trains Kenyan students, and supports Masai students in local elementary schools near the study site. In addition, project personnel work closely with the public media in the USA and abroad, maintain an educational website, and give many lectures each year to lay audiences. Finally, via a web portal this research makes available to other researchers and the general public core data tables in a database that documents hyena behavior, demography, and physiology at the study site since 1988. This project is jointly supported by the Animal Behavior Program and International Science and Engineering.